Editorial: Who is our ally?

Tuesday

Republicans and Democrats finally found something to agree on, shouldering together recently to rip President Donald Trump's decision to abruptly pull U.S. troops from northern Syria.

Lawmakers fretted, with some justification, about the potential fallout. First and foremost was the fear that the U.S. had "abandoned" the tough, gritty fighters who had been allies in our war against ISIS — by one estimate 11,000 Kurds died backing the U.S. in that conflict — and freed Turkish strongman Recep Tayyip Erdogan to slaughter them.

A secondary concern was that, once unleashed, Turkish forces or unruly Syrian militias supporting them may accidentally (or perhaps not) catch U.S. troops in the crossfire. In addition, since the Kurds had secured prisons holding captured ISIS thugs, jettisoning them meant leaving those sites unguarded, providing ISIS a chance to regroup and to reinvigorate. In fact, reports already indicate some terrorists had escaped.

Those are serious issues, and undoubtedly Trump's decision will, if it hasn't already, introduce more chaos into a region known for its murky politics, religious animosity and unending violence.

But we should perhaps take a step back and think of the words of one of Trump's predecessors, as we'll explain in a moment.

The sidebar to this debate that many observers have noted, albeit not with the same intensity as the "Trump abandoned our allies" freakout, is that the Turks, too, are allies.

They also have fought ISIS, along with us and the Kurds. But looking back, Turkey sided with the West in the Cold War against Soviet aggression by joining the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in February 1952. To put that in context, Turkey joined NATO three years before then-West Germany and 30 years before Spain — two allies that no American, except for the most extreme isolationist, would reject for military support in case of attack.

While the Turkey of today is far friendlier to Islamic fundamentalists than the Turkey that aligned with NATO 67 years ago, the fact remains that Turkey is a NATO partner entitled to our support, just like any other.

We know this because Trump's critics were lecturing us on this point not so long. In a July 2018 interview, Trump wondered aloud why the U.S., under NATO provisions, should defend the "aggressive" people of Montenegro, which joined NATO in 2017 and has a population rivaling that of Polk County. The blowback was immediate. For instance, Nicholas Burns, a former U.S. ambassador to NATO, tweeted that Trump had sown "further doubt whether the US under his leadership would defend our allies. Another gift to (Russian President Vladimir) Putin."

In January 2019 The New York Times reported that Trump had entertained the idea of a U.S. withdrawal from NATO a few times during 2018. Again criticism rained down. Retired Adm. James G. Stavridis, a former supreme allied commander of NATO, told the Times that America's exit from NATO would amount to a " geopolitical mistake of epic proportion." Stavridis added, "Even discussing the idea of leaving NATO — let alone actually doing so — would be the gift of the century for Putin." Michèle Flournoy, a senior Defense Department official under President Barack Obama, told the Times America's departure "would be one of the most damaging things that any president could do to U.S. interests."

Sen. John McCain traveled to Turkey and northern Syria in February 2017. According to Turkish media, McCain called the U.S.-Turkey alliance "more vital than ever." McCain also said Erdogan's proposal "to establish safe zones in Syria" — the idea behind the current pullout — "should receive serious consideration by the United States." During a Senate committee hearing a month later, McCain noted, "We are working with the Kurds … the same Kurds that Erdogan has labeled as a terrorist organization." The senator added, "I'm not sure that the administration recognizes how seriously particularly President Erdogan views the threat. He is passionately opposed to Kurdish involvement, and our support of the Kurds."

So to whom is America's allegiance owed? The Kurds, critical allies against ISIS? Or Turkey, which has pledged to fight alongside us for 67 years? Would we have denied help to NATO allies like Britain or France had they sought our assistance in quelling terrorism on their borders?

President George Washington said in his famous 1796 farewell address that "already formed" alliances ought to "be fulfilled with perfect good faith." But, he added, "Here let us stop. ... It is our true policy to steer clear of permanent alliances with any portion of the foreign world." Had we listened to Washington, or maybe even to McCain as we argued over the size of Trump's inauguration crowd and a proposed travel ban on select majority-Muslim countries, we might not be in such a gut-wrenching position now.

Never miss a story

Choose the plan that's right for you.
Digital access or digital and print delivery.